Guardian Angel
by xxxDreamingflowerxxx
Summary: Instead of disappearing right away, Laylah leaves with Emilia, after her powers awaken and sends Nord away. The hero, raised by her archangel mother, away from humanity and conflict, has to set out on a journey to correct her mother's past actions, while hiding from the angels who are looking for them. How can a morally wrong raised hero save Ente Isla from the demon invations?
1. Prologue

Hello guys, it's been a few months since I wrote something and now I finally have time I'll try to get back into shape, so I just did what a Tumblr post adviced to people who took a break in writing because of life. Work on something completely new. I'm contributing this time to to the Hataraku Maou-sama fandom! I've been in love with this series for a long time! And since I found out that Yen Press is translating it, well I couldn't be more than happy. I began to look for spoilers of the novels or even fan translations. I'm happy with what Yen Press is doing, but my patience is short also I was able to spot some translation errors in their work.

A more detailed summaryof my story, for those who are curious. One year after Emilia was born Laylah's power which were dormant for a long time, awakened again. She decided to send her husband to a safe place, while fleeing with her daughter Emilia. The hero grows in ignorance, while traveling from towns to mountains to forests with her mother, has received the duty to correct her mother's past actions and has to deal with the crisis she does not know enough about. While trying to evade getting captured by heaven, how will th hero, who was raised like an angel, be able to save humanity while inheriting her mother's terrible habits?

Main genres are humour, adventure and romance. MaouxEmi will appear later on.

I haven't got a complete idea of where I want this to go... at least the ending, but I got the beginning and middle of the story plotted out.

I can tell you this at least, I'm very obsessed with writing detailed and nicely flowing plots so it may take a while before the story gets to its core. Let's just hope we won't be 10 years later on, since I have the bad habit of working on multiple stories at the same time. Yeah I'm still working on the majority of my other stories. Let's just hope summer gets my batteries to max. It would be great if I have my writing drive back.

The current title name is temporarily, since I didn't know anything else. If someone has a suggestion for a better name, please tell me.

Enjoy the little prologue. Chapter 1 is in progress. I never plan everything in detail so who knows when it's finished, but I try to finish it by tomorrow.

* * *

Prologue

It was a peaceful night, the only sound present in the forest was the sound of the wind's howling and the inhabitants of the forest. It was supposed to be a regular night, but the light sounds of footsteps broke that silence. The figure; a woman in a long white dress, silver locks and red eyes was making her fast escape through the woods, carrying what seemed to be a small bundle of blankets in her arms. After a while she finally halted, took a deep breath and stared behind her.

"The coast is clear." She muttered softly.

Behind her a larger form appeared a male; deep lemon-coloured eyes, magenta-coloured hair in what seemed farmer's clothes. "What a mess." He mumbled.

The woman didn't answer and just stared past the man. After another moment of silence she finally met his eyes. "Forgive me. I did not intend for things to end up like they did."

The man smiled. "Don't worry, you couldn't help it. As for me nothing is more important in the world than the two of you, Laylah."

Laylah smiled sadly as she stared at the infant which she was carrying between the blankets; a baby girl not older than a year, hair exact like her father's and her eyes, though closed at the moment, due to the child sleeping, but they were also the same as the man. "If I were to leave her with you, I'm sure they would detect her existence sooner or later. I wouldn't be able to guarantee what would happen not to her or to you."

"It may have been a short while, but I enjoyed every bit of it." The man smiled sadly.

"If only I had more time..."

The two's conversation was cut short when they heard the sound of fallen branches crushed under heavy boots.

"They're catching up."

Laylah braced herself, she glanced at her husband one more time and then at her daughter. "Take care." She said.

The man kissed the forehead of his daughter and wife. "Alright."

The woman held the man's hand one more time, giving him a serious look, which he answered with a nod. "I'll do the best I can."

After taking a few steps angelic wings sprouted from Laylah's back. She summoned a purple portal, which engulfed her husband, within seconds any trace of the man disappeared from the forest

"I'm sure we're bound to meet again, Nord." The angel mutter as she held her daughter, who woke up from the noise and started to cry. The woman quickly continued her pace as she tried to calm her daughter.

The mother arrived in a clearing. The trees couldn't shield the mother and child from the light that the moon reflected.

"I guess I have no choice..." She muttered.

"The light came from this direction Sir Gabriel!"

"We may have a chance to catch up to her!"

A group of soldiers, led by a tall man in a strange toga, silver hair and red eyes, just like Laylah, arrived at the clearing. Gabriel, the leader of the group looked around, but to their frustration they found nothing. "She escaped again." The man uttered.

"So, what do we do?" One of the men asked.

"We just continue our search of course." Gabriel replied.

The group sighed in disappointment. "After all those years, we finally got a signal, only for her to disappear again."

"I know you're tired, I'm actually too. But if we've been able to search for a thousand years, what does about five or ten years matter?"

The group kept quiet.

"Please don't be so discouraged." Gabriel whined. "You're not the ones in trouble, it's me actually."

In the end Gabriel also let out a sigh. "Archangel Laylah... Sooner or later you'll turn up again. Even if we have to wait for fifteen or a hundred years and when the time comes..."

A silence crept about the group as they waited for their leader to finish.

"I can finally relax and return to reading my book!"

No one answered. It was an answer they would expect from their leader. After a while the archangel revealed his wings and took off to the skies. His soldiers soon followed, returning the forest to it's peaceful state.

Between the bushes Laylah appeared, rubbing her temples. "It's too easy to fool them." She mumbled to herself. The woman let out a satisfied sigh as she turned to face her daughter, who she was still strangling in her arms. "Well then my dear Emilia, we should head off too."

Just like that, the archangel Laylah disappeared from the clearing.


	2. The Mother and Daughter's Daily Life

So it took a bit longer than I hoped to update, but grammar check is such a tedious job, especially when you write everything on an iPad. Sigh, well here it is chapter 1, at least I finished it quickly.

Btw, thanks for the follows, fav and review. I'm happy, lots of kisses from me!

Now, a bit more information about the story's structure. I'm planning on dividing it into small arcs. This is what you could call the childhood arc, growing up arc, or introduction arc. Any of those if fine, it's mostly focused on Laylah and Emi, but mostly Laylah. The arc after will focus more on Emi. I'm planning to make the introduction arc about 3 to 5 chapters, so there's no need to wonder: Ugh when will the plot envelop? Because it is crucial for the future chapters and everything needs a base, right?

Anyway, thanks for the support and enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 1: The Mother and Daughter's Daily Life

Six years later...

Ente Isla a nation known to be the closest to the gods. Consisted of five nations; North, South, East, West and the Central continent. It's once peaceful days lost, the humans cowering in fear by the demons and their king, who invaded the lands, but somewhere there is still some ignorance of the war and anguish.

A forest somewhere in the Western continent...

"I found some apples!" A girl with long magenta hair and green eyes, yelled happily as she ran towards her mother, who was busy boiling water at their campfire near the river side.

Laylah smiled. "Thank you Emilia. Well, let's see what we can do with apples and fish!"

The archangel grabbed a bag and looked through the little belongings she had. "Ahah!" She exclaimed proudly as she took out a device which seemed a bit unusual for the place they were staying: it was a fruit peeler.

"I've never tried it before, but we should try to cook apples!"

Emilia looked at the pot with boiling water. "Do we always have to boil whatever we eat?"

"Not really." The angel replied. "But whenever the water boils it sounds funny." She smiled, leaving her daughter only with more questions.

"Is the sound a good thing?"

"Well, it's not a bad sound, don't you agree."

Emilia nodded excitedly. "Can I use the fruit cutter?"

"Sure, but be careful with it."

The fruit peeler, which obviously did not belong in Ente Isla, was somehow in the possession of the archangel, and her daughter and because it was an object which none of the two were very familiar with, they used it to cut fruit, meat and fish with it.

Emilia, being the curious child, always wanted to try out anything she was not familiar with, so the strange shaped knife was like a birthday present. The girl, happily cut the apples in odd, messy shapes, from too thin to too thick. It took the child about 37 minutes exactly, since the object wasn't meant to be used as a knife.

"Thank you very much dear." The silver-haired woman smiled.

Without any thinking she dropped the apples and the fish in the pot with boiling water.

The seven-year old, slightly cringed at the disturbing sight of apples cooked with fish. But there was nothing else to expect from an angel. They didn't require food as much as humans do.

"Now for our last ingredients!" Laylah exclaimed as she picked a few mint scented leaves from a nearby bush and added them to the pot.

Silence engulfed the mother and daughter, until the water reached its boiling point and made a sizzling noise, accompanied by steam.

"Dinner time!" The mother exclaimed happily. She grabbed the bag again and took out two beautifully crafted plates, which also seemed out of place, along with two pair of chopsticks and two Japanese styled teacups. She quickly took out the fish and apples with the chopsticks and scooped some of the water in their teacups. Handing one over to her daughter.

Emilia grimaced at the odd smelling water and the apples and fish. It didn't seem as healthy as before.

"Alright, let's dig in!"

A few minutes later the foolish mother and daughter duo sat at the river site, trying to cool their burning tongues with the river water and their complaining stomachs, completely lost in their own struggles and obvious to the chaos of the outside world.

They finally settled down against a tree, staring at the sky.

"Mama, how come we have to live like this? Can't we stay at one of the villages we've visited? Or with papa?"

Laylah gave her daughter a sad look. "Remember the story I told you?"

"About the bad guys and the stones?"

The woman nodded. "It's too dangerous for us to stay in one place, they will find us easily."

"Because you had to protect those stones?"

"Yes, one is with your father for safekeeping. Another one is right here." She showed Emilia the ring she was carrying, "another one is right there." Laylah pointed to her daughter.

"Me?" Emilia blinked, in surprise and enthusiasm.

"Yes and make sure to take good care of it."

"Unn!" The child nodded happily. "What happened to the others?"

"Ah... Well, I gave another one away a long time ago... And the others... I lost them..."

"Lost them? Shouldn't we look for those then? What if those mean people find it."

Laylah scratched the back of her head. "Yes... But I don't really know where I have to look... It's been a while since I lost them..."

Emilia puffed her cheeks. "But if mama can't find it, then those mean people can't either, right? Because mama is much smarter than them!" The girl grinned as she said those words.

"Yes! Mama is much smarter, now let's continue on! Our tummies probably don't hurt anymore!" Laylah exclaimed as she proudly stood up. Sadly for the woman, her stomach hadn't recovered completely and it started to complain. "Ugh!"

The daughter stared painfully at her mother, who clutched her complaining stomach. "I guess there are things even angels are weak too." The woman mumbled. "Let's just continue at a slow pace..."

She slowly stored their belongings away, grabbed a cloak and took her daughter by her hand. "On to the next village..." She exclaimed weakly.

* * *

The duo arrived at a village after a half-day travel. Laylah turned to her daughter who was looking at the village curiously. "Alright Emilia, what did we agree on whenever we entered a village or city?"

"Always stay together."

The archangel nodded.

"Don't wander off"

"Don't talk to strangers"

She nodded again.

"Don't tell anyone about us."

Another nod.

"Stay calm."

Another one.

"No holy magic."

The woman smiled. "Yes and please ignore what the people here tell you. It would be troublesome if they notice our presence."

The little girl nodded proudly. She grabbed her mother's hand, while the woman placed the cloak over her head to hide her silver hair and they entered the village.

Emilia was amazed with how lively the place looked. There were humans everywhere talking, laughing and playing. It felt so foreign to her, no matter how many villages they visited, which in truth weren't many. So, Emilia's social skills weren't that good either.

They walked into an inn. The angel politely greeted the owner. "I'd like to rent a room for two days for me and my daughter." As she took out a pouch and gave three golden coins to the store owner. "You can keep the change." She smiled.

"Sure..." The owner commented, taken aback by the large amount of money she received. She accepted the money absent-mindedly and grabbed a room key. "Please follow me, madam and young miss."

Laylah and Emilia followed the owner to the first floor, the fifth door on the right. The inn keeper opened the room for the two. "This room has two beds, a closet to store your belongings and you can wash yourself in this room here. Dinner is at sundown. Please, enjoy your stay."

She closed the door and left the two. Emilia looked excitingly at the beds. "I can sleep on a bed?!" She asked happily as she ran towards the beds and allowed herself to fall on the mattress.

"For the time being. We ran out of soap and it can't hurt to hide between the humans, as long as we stay away from the capital and the church."

"Why? Are they bad guys?"

"You could put it that way." The woman exclaimed as she walked over to her daughter and sat next to her. "So, what shall we do now?"

Emilia closed her eyes, as if she was deep in thought. "I... want to see the town!"

"Alright, let's do that, but don't let go of my hand, we have until sundown."

"Yes!"

Laylah placed their belongings in the closet, while her daughter waited impatiently at the door. Grabbing the curious child by her hand, the two left the inn to do some reconnaissance.

The archangel noticed that the town seemed to be strictly under surveillance, wherever they went there were guards. The woman decided to not pay too much attention, as they couldn't afford to attract any attention at the moment. They arrived at the plaza, which was filled with merchants and citizens conversing, selling and lots of other things. Laylah glanced back at her daughter. The girl seemed quite curious, but there was a hint of uncertainty and fear present in her eyes. The mother took a deep sigh as she made a decision. "Emilia, could you get something for mama?"

The child eyed her mother questionably, slightly nervous about what her mother was about to ask.

The woman grabbed a few coins and handed them to her daughter. "We need to buy some food and some water and while you're at it you can also buy something delicious. Don't worry, I'll be waiting at the fountain." She smiled.

Emilia glanced at the stance and then back to her mother, she grimaced, before letting go of her mother's hand and slowly walked over to the stands. Laylah watched her daughter patiently. "Step by step." She mumbled.

It was bustling with people, trying to bargain and negotiate about the price, quantity and more. Seeing all those big adults together made the child feel very small and scared.

"Well, well, good day my lovely lady. What can I get you?" A man asked politely, upon noticing the small half-breed.

"I... Um... I... Can... I" The girl stumbled over her wording. "Bread... and vegetables..." She mumbled softly.

"Can you speak louder dear?" The merchant asked gently.

"Ah, I need some... bread and vegetables please!" The girl mouthed the last part loudly, earning the attention of the other adults and children around her. Emilia's face turned beet red.

"Ahahaha! Sure little lady. That will be five silver coins" The man laughed.

"I have only a few gold coins..." The girl muttered.

"Then how about you give me one gold coin and I give you these in return." The man smiled as he took the golden coin and gave the young girl the change with her order. "And here's something sweet as an extra." The man winked.

"Um... Thank you mister." She squeaked out. The girl happily returned to her mother, but a few voices caught her attention.

"Did you hear?"

"You mean the events at the border? Yes, I can't believe how fast they're advancing."

"I heard the East and North have already fallen. What is to become of humanity?"

"They have increased the security around this place for the exact reason."

"Yes, and I'm sure the church is doing whatever it can to keep them away from us."

"Let's pray for the souls of the deceased. This town would turn into nothing if they were to arrive here, is there even any place we can flee to?"

"Heaven may protect us from those demons."

Emilia blinked, for some reason she felt a shudder upon hearing the foreign word demon. She shook her head wildly, remembering her mother's words and quickly returned to the woman.

"Mama, look what I got from the..."

The archangel's stare immediately silenced the little girl. Laylah was looking at her right, staring at some guard who seemed to be conversing about something. The woman snapped out of her thoughts, when she felt her daughter tugging on her robe. "Ah, thank you very much sweetie."

"Are you alright?" Emilia asked in a slight worried tone.

"Ah, yes I am. Thank you very much. Let's go back to the inn for now." Laylah said as she took her daughter by her hand.

The seven-year old nodded happily as they made their way back to their room. "Mama..." The girl asked softly. "What are demons?"

Laylah stiffened slightly, but kept her gaze on the road. "We'll talk anout that later." She answered in a whisper.

Emilia nodded, though she noticed her mother's change of demeandor, she decided to not question her further in public.

* * *

The town fell completely silent the moment the moon came out. Only soldiers were still outside, patrolling the area. Laylah watched from her window with a worried expression on her face. Her daughter was already sleeping soundly. The two had been walking around for most of the day and after all the traveling, Emilia was completely exhausted after they returned. Being still a child of the age of seven and having hardly the chance to sleep in a proper bed, the girl was out of it, the moment she lay under the covers. She shifted under her blankets and let out a snore before she continued to sleep soundly. The archangel smiled at the innocent movement of the child, before turning back to the window. "Demons..." She muttered, zoning out as if she was reliving a distant memory.

She glanced back to her daughter. "Ah, don't tell me I'm such a big screw up. How am I going to fix this now?"

"Hmm, papa, I want more of that cold coloured food."

Laylah glanced back at her daughter who was talking in her sleep. The archangel let out a sigh and approached the bed. Giving up on worrying and deciding to rest instead. "Nord, I hope you won't get too angry." She muttered as she joined Emilia in bed and closed her eyes. Allowing her mind to somewhere else.

* * *

I'm very satisfied about this chapter. I hope I gave everyone a good image of how I think Laylah would be as a mother. She may seem the most reasonable of all but, she is still an angel. So short comings are likely to be present. The novel already gave hints of what kind of person she is and we'll explore more of that in the later chapters. I'm not sure if Angels need food or anything, but I doubt the majority of them know how to cook properly. Emilia is lucky to be still alive. XD I'll try my best to release the next chapter as soon as I can.

Feel free to leave a comment or anything to support this writer.


	3. The Mother Makes a Decision

Hey there! Sorry for the wait, well at least it's within a week, so I guess I can be forgiven! I was kinda busy with reading the Hataraku Maou-sama novel to get a better grasp on some character's personalities and background stories.

Things will feel like they're going to take a faster pace, but belief me, it's far from that. I have many ideas and plans for this, muahahahahaha!

Thank you so much people who have reviewed, fav and followed! Now the replies to the anon reviews (people with an account who review mostly get PMs where I reply)

Guest: You think so? Thank you very much! Yes it's going to take some very interesting turns. I'm pretty excited about it myself. Thanks again, I wanted to make it a bit sad for the two, since it's still a dark moment, but not too bad since it's not an eternal separation. Gabriel is one of my favourite Angels and I like portraying that laid back, 3rd rate NEET personality of him. Laylah's skills? Yes, Emilia will inherit those. XD

Guest: LOL, really? Haha I never thought about it, thank you. Haha I don't expect angels to be good cooks anyway. Yeah that would look funny. Facing the important problem of burning tongues while humanity gets slaughtered by Satan's army. XD I wanted to focus on Emi and Laylah's relationship and well portray Emi's terrible social skills. It's going to play a role later on too.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Archangel Makes a Decision

It was still early when Emilia rose from her slumber. Despite the sun rays shining through the windows, there was hardly any sound outside. The young girl squinted her eyes, hoping it would shield her from the sun, but to no avail. After a deep groan, the child rose with difficulty, noticing the sudden strain in her neck and her awkward position. The child was sprawled at the end of the bed, her head practically hanging in the corner, while her mother occupied the whole bed, snoring soundly and hugging a pillow, her feet near poking the half-breed's cheeks. Emilia pouted, but in the end, knew this was better than the mornings when she woke up, getting nearly choked by her mother's hugs. It is so fortunate for pillows, to be lifeless objects and thus felt nothing when they were used as some hugging device.

She finally jumped out of bed, having lost all of her sleep and, like every other child her age, she was dying to look around the town, but since her mother forbid her to go out alone, she had no choice but to stay cooped up in the messy room until the archangel woke up. Thus, she decided to explore the small room instead.

Silently, the girl got out of the bed, the creaking of the wooden floor made the girl freeze on her spot, glancing at her mother, who only rolled to the other side of the bed and continued sleeping, mumbling something unintelligible. One of the many things, mother and daughter shared, no matter what circumstances, they were heavy sleepers. Emilia let out a sigh of relief and looked around the room. Her expression turned quickly into a frown. It hadn't been one day and their room was already a mess. All their stuff was all over the place, Laylah took out everything, just because she was looking for the fruit peeler and didn't bother to place everything back to where it belonged. Their clothes were discarded in different corners of the room, even hanging on the closet, wrappings covered the floor. Emilia never noticed her own mess, but she always cleaned up after her mother's mess. Even now, in the early morning, the girl decided to put her craving to explore aside to make their room more presentable to prevent the owner from receiving any heart attacks, like what happened during their previous town visits.

"Hmm, I want another bite."

The innocent eyes of the child loomed over her mother, who just rolled over again, while drooling in her slumber. Emilia shook her head as she started to count from 3.

"Three, two, one..."

"Ouch!"

Laylah fell from the bed as she rolled over again, her head hitting the night stand. She rubbed her sore forehead, sniffing a few times, followed by a random sneeze.

"What time is it?" She mumbled sleepily.

Emilia walked over to her mother, helping her up. "It's dawn." The girl replied.

The mother gave a sleepy nod as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her daughter kept gazing at her expectantly. Laylah blinked a few times, until something popped up in her mind. "Ah, of course, it's almost time for breakfast!"

Not noticing her daughter's pout she picked up the girl, grabbed their clothes and walked into the washing room.

The first few minutes were spent in silence as Laylah carefully washed her daughter's hair. Making sure that her eyes wouldn't sting, Emilia closed her eyes tightly, still bothered by something.

"Mama,"

"Yes, what is it?" Laylah asked in a completely relaxed tone as she poured water over her daughter.

"What are demons?"

Laylah paused, staring at her daughters in a concerned manner. "Did you hear the townspeople talk?"

The child nodded silently, waiting for her mother to continue.

"Demons are... A race that also inhabit this world.

"A race?" The girl asked curiously.

The archangel nodded. "Yes, a different race. They come from the demon realm a land across the sea. Unlike humans, they have different forms. Human fear demons because of their brutality, but they're just another species living in this world." She was silent for a while, watching the water drops hitting the floor. "Humans aren't the only race living in this world. There also is mama, right?"

"Nn!" The girl nodded with more force. "Mama is an angel!"

"Yes, I come from a place higher up, papa is human, so he comes from here."

"Then, what am I?"

"You... Are both. You're a nephilim."

"Nefi- nelim..." Emilia tried to repeat the strange word, but it was still too hard for her to pronounce.

"You're an angel and a human."

"Is that strange?"

Laylah grimaced as she looked at the curious, innocent eyes of her daughter. "You're unique, but in this world... Others may want to take advantage of you and try to use you to do bad things because of your powers."

"Is that why we always run?"

"Partly, but as you should know." Laylah muttered, deciding to return to the topic. "Just don't forget, demons are just another race of this world. Just like humans, they can do bad things and stray from what they used to believe in."

"Mama... Likes demons?"

"I guess you could say it." She smirked. "They are similar to humans in more ways that one. You can say I'm curious about them."

"Has mama, ever met a demon before?"

"Once, it was a long time ago. I encountered a very strange demon. Let's just say I was very curious and decided to stick around until I was sure he was okay. No matter if you're a human or demon or even an angel, we all want to enjoy our lives."

"Those ladies from yesterday, said that demons were invading our home." Emilia muttered as she stared at her feet, her voice filled with worry.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, but why are they invading Ente Isla and destroying the homes of others? If you say they are not that different from us and have a home of their own?"

"Because they are still a different race. It's hard to understand those who aren't the same. Can you understand the birds and the fish?"

The child shook her head.

"Humans are probably like that to them."

"And what about Angels?"

"They don't meddle much with human affairs or demons, as long as it has nothing to do with them."

"We have something to do with them..." Emilia stated softly. "The bad people, are angels..."

Laylah kept quiet as her daughter continued to talk. "But they are not after papa!" She differently exclaimed. "If we live with papa, they won't be able to find us, right?"

The archangel shook her head. "Papa lives apart because it's safer for him. They don't know that papa has one of those."

"Do they know that I have one?" The nephilim turned to face her mother. Her big eyes staring into the woman's eyes.

Laylah grimaced, clenching her teeth as she felt an ache in her heart. "You did nothing wrong." Was the only answer she gave, confusing the girl more as the woman hugged her daughter. "Let's get dressed." The angel mumbled as she lifted her daughter up and wrapped her in a towel. "There is enough to do today."

The only answer Emilia could give was a simple nod.

* * *

Like yesterday, the streets were filled with soldiers patrolling. Emilia didn't know why, but she felt nervous when she looked at the soldiers, they looked so intimidating to the seven-year old. The girl closed her eyes and grabbed her mother's hand tightly while walking through the streets. Laylah was glancing around, looking for a particular building.

"Aha!" The woman's eyes landed and a particularly large and fancy looking building. It was clear that it had some kind of significance in the town. After they entered in the building, Laylah bent down to face her daughter. "Be a good girl and wait here, alright? Mama will return shortly."

Thus, like that, Emilia had to wait at the entrance of the building. She knew her mother would return, so she did what Laylah asked her and waited obediently for her return, that was, until her stomach started to grumble. The child grumbled upon realisation, the food they purchased the day before was for their journey and being still a child, the money her mother gave her was not much, not to mention that she'd probably become lost if she were to look for a place to eat. She couldn't bring her mother any worry or more trouble. So the girl sat down on the ground and clutched her stomach, hoping it will give some fake illusion that her stomach would calm down.

She tried to divert her attention to her surroundings, the shadows of the people walking by, the sound of the wind, people's laughter, their anguish. It made her uncertain and afraid. She was always aware that her mother kept her in the dark about the current situation of Ente Isla, but she didn't imagine how many things she kept hidden from her or why. The girl was so occupied with her thoughts, that she didn't notice a shadow looming over her.

"Are you losssssst?"

Emilia jumped, upon hearing the voice right behind her. She turned around, warningly. Her eyes met with two green lazy-looking ones. The person who asked was a girl with short bluish-green hair, the ends were curled towards the outside. To Emilia the girl seemed quite young, maybe even younger than her. Despite her age, the half-breed was still feeling nervous. "I am just waiting for my mother."

"Is she insiiiiiide?"

"Yes, I was told to wait for her." Emilia, confused about the girl's strange speech answered.

The girl stared at the building and glanced back at Emilia, her laid back expression giving away to some curiosity. The silence between the two girls was quickly interrupted when Emilia's stomach began to grumble again. The seven-year old's face became completely red as she clutched her stomach tighter.

"Pffffhaha. Are you hungry?" The human girl giggled.

Emilia was about to deny, when her stomach began to grumble again, leaving her resting her head on her knees in defeat.

The Niphilim heard some shuffling on her side, when she looked she saw the girl handing some bread to her. "I have more than enouuuuugh." She smiled innocently.

Emilia stared questioningly at the gesture, until her stomach made her grab the food. The strange girl sat down next to Emilia and took out another piece of bread, they ate in silence for a while.

"It's always more fun when you eat together." The green-haired girl finally said, earning another glance from her neighbour. "Most of the time I have to eat alone." She turned to Emilia with a smile. "You're also traveling, riiiiiiight?"

Surprised by the girl's sudden remark, Emilia could only nod absent-mindedly.

"In a way, it's a big privilege. You get to see different parts of the world and different perssssspectives."

The only thing she could do was listen while the girl talked about random things.

"Sorry to keep you waiting dear. Ara, have you made a friend."

Laylah who just left the building spotted to her delightful surprise her daughter chatting with another girl or more to say, listening while the girl was chatting. The two children turned around upon hearing the woman.

"Her stomach was grumbling loudly, so I decided to share some of my food." The girl explained, staring curiously at the woman.

"Ah," Laylah sweat dropped, having completely forgotten to get her daughter some food. "Thank you very much, My daughter has trouble with socialising, I guess it's partly my fault."

"Don't worrrrrry about it, sometimes listening is enough." The girl stood up, dusting off her fine robes. "I should get going, they're probably worried about me. Thank you very much for the short time."

"Ah, you're welcome..." Emilia mumbled softly.

"Let's meet again sometime!"

The girl waved as she headed forwards, disappearing between the people.

"Unn." Was the Niphilim's only response.

Mother and daughter stood silently in the street, looking at the direction where the girl had headed off to.

"Emilia?"

"Yes, mama?"

"Did you get her name?"

"No."

"Did you have her your name?"

"No."

"..."

A few minutes had passed, Laylah's blank expression withheld the agony and regret she harboured when she came to the conclusion that there was no chance to meet again with the girl, since they would be leaving the next day. So far her plans to make her daughter become more social by gaining a few friends.

"Mama, shouldn't we go?"

"Ah, yes, yes, let's go."

Even the half-angel could detect the sudden gloom coming from her mother, but guessing that it had nothing to do with what Laylah had to take care of, inside the building, Emilia decided to let her mother linger on the negative feelings. She would turn back to her old self later anyway.

* * *

Sitting back at the plaza, Laylah observed the movements of all the humans around, she took, in particular, notice on the soldiers whispering. Her daughter was sitting next to her annoying her drink, which her mother purchased not long ago. It was one of the things Laylah tended to forget, being an angel, they didn't need to consume any liquid or food to survive, the majority just did it out of luxury or for a snack, so it was no surprise that she forgot to buy food for her daughter.

The angel glanced at her daughter, who was in utter bliss with her drink. The innocent expression that her young face expressed, one that showed complete ignorance and the believe that the world was a place full of good. It made it harder for Laylah to reveal the truth to the girl. Their eyes met and Emilia smiled innocently. The mother almost broke down in a cry.

"I can't keep this up for long... All the good things come to and end sooner or later..."

Frowning deeply, the mother finally collected her thoughts and made a resolve, right at that moment a small hand, tugging on her sleeve, made her aware of her surroundings again.

"Mama," Emilia's voice sounded soft, but scared. "They... They're... Here." Her voice and body were trembling.

Eyes wide, she quickly scanned through the place, sensing an approaching presence. 'How could they have caught wind of our whereabouts? Or is this just a coincidence?!'

Grabbing her daughter's hand, she quickly made her way back to the inn. Upon entering she walked calmly to their room, as to not draw any attention or to cause suspicion. "I'm sorry Emilia, but we have to leave already."

Emilia nodded, understanding the situation. "Have they found us?"

"I'm not sure, but we can't take any risks."

After gathering their stuff, not paying any attention to the mess they left, mother and daughter went downstairs to the reception. "Something came up, so I'd like to cancel the reservation for the next night." Laylah smiled as she returned the key.

The receptionist, clearly surprised and nodded, taking the key and turning to store it away. "Ah sure, let me give you your change and..." By the time the man turned around both mother and daughter were already gone. Not staying to see the real horror that was about to come when he would check the room, the man just blinked, curiously about the sudden haste of the woman and her child.

* * *

The two looked at the village from afar, both wearing a cloak to conceal their identities.

"Sorry we couldn't stay there longer, but I think it's for the best." The mother turned to her daughter, expression serious and determined. "Emilia, listen carefully." She said, sitting on her knees, lowering herself to her daughter's height. "As you've heard yesterday, demons have invaded Ente Isla."

The magenta-haired girl nodded nervously, not sure why her mother was telling her this now all of a sudden as she continued to listen.

"Under the command of their leader; Demon King Satan, they took control of the Central, Northern and Eastern Continents. The Southern and the Western, where we are currently living are the only remaining strongholds left. The human organisation associated with heaven; the church is the only remaining human stronghold that's resisting, but as I said before, they serve the ones who are chasing us."

Emilia's hands trembled. "What do you mean?"

Laylah took a deep breath. "Things are getting harder for us from now on. The day that we'll encounter the demon army might be coming near, you have to stay strong, mama will protect you, but you have to learn to defend yourself."

"But mama, you said I would lose control if I used them!"

"I'll teach you, at least to the extend that we won't get noticed. Also, as long as you lose control around your enemies, it should matter much!"

Tears started to form in the corners of Emilia's eyes as fear struck her. Within seconds the child began to cry.

"Ah, don't worry! Mama is still here! So there's no need to be scared!"

The archangel's enthusiasm, did little to comfort the crying child. Laylah started to wail frantically, lost at how to act. "Uh, ah, and there's also mama's charm!"

Emilia's cries turned into soft whimpers and hiccups upon hearing those words.

"As long as you have your mother's charm it will keep you safe from any evil! I promise."

She gently brushed away the tears of the child, noticing some snot on her clothes, the archangel frowned. "Yuck..." She muttered, trying to find something to at least brush it off. But since they were in the middle of nowhere, the mother had no choice but to pluck a leave and use it as a substitute tissue. "We may need to pay a visit soon..." She muttered as her thoughts wandered somewhere else.

After a while she finally stood up, picking Emilia up in her arms. "For now," she said as she held the hand with the ring in front of her daughter's face, determination in her eyes. "We're going to have a treasure hunt!"

* * *

Thank you for reading! I was a little stuck for a short while while writing this, but I got out of it as you see. So things are going to speed up a bit and were nearing the time skip, what probably most readers will be waiting for.

I seriously don't know how old Emeralda is actually. I tried looking for her profile from the novels but well I think even there her age is stated as a mystery. So, I decided to put her around Emi's age, maybe a bit younger or older. Yay, for foreshadowing! Laylah is getting serious, but what will her next action be?

I see you next time and thank you for reading.


	4. The Hero Learns About the Sephira

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for taking my time to publish this, the chapter took longer than I expected and ideas kept popping up. Anyway, I hope that this extra long chapter will satisfy you enough. It's twice the size of the previous two, I hope this means I am getting my frantic writing groove back. XD This chapter took a lot of different turn in the end it turned out completely different from what I had planned originally. It may feel confusing or too fast paced, but, I promise you it's not the overall plot is much longer and this is just a little snack for you guys to chew on, until we get to the main dish. It's still an important snack for understanding Emilia and her future actions and character and also some little foreshadowing of what we will see later on.

Now, thank you very much all those lovely readers, favs etc etc. Well you get the drill.

Guest: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, you could say Laylah is a bit of a ditch. The novel portrayed the angels as people you wouldn't really have as a role model: There is Sariel, Gabriel even Raguel don't give of the impression of what an angel should be. I think even Laylah belongs to the group of weirdos. Emilia was lucky or more thanks to her angel blood, which prevents her from dying from food poisoning.

Also special thanks to watcher 219. I'm so happy that you enjoy my story and sorry for making you wait so long while i promised it would be on days ago. Hopefully the chapter will satisfy you. Also thanks for the enjoyable conversations. :)

Now on with the story.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Hero Learns About the Sephira

 _The sun shone brightly, after what seemed like days of grey clouds and eternal rainfall. The rays felt like relief to the young Niphilim, as she breathed in and out peacefully, focusing on the sounds of nature._

 _"All right, now that you've cleared your mind, repeat what we have been practicing on."_

 _Layla's voice was calm, but filled with authority, Emilia sat opposite of her mother, trying her best to focus. A thin, light began to emit from the young child, it felt like something warm from inside her was slowly spreading, ridding her body of any fatigue or injuries._

 _"That's good, now keep going." Her mother encouraged her._

 _Sweat began to pour from the girl's forehead as she released more of her holy power. The wind blowing through her long locks as they started to change in colour, almost becoming silver, until..."_

 _"Hahh choo!"_

 _The girl started to sneeze, the moment a butterfly decided to rest on her nose. Losing control of her powers, she accidentally released her magic around the area. Within seconds the area was a lot more empty than before. Leaves from the trees along with the flowers were burned to crisps, Laylah was quick to act and shielded herself with a barrier, while Emilia was panting on the ground, already exhausted from using her holy magic._

 _"At least you did better than last time..." The mother muttered. "It would have been better if not for that butterfly..." She mumbled. "Let's go back to the camp side, our food is probably ready."_

 _Emilia nodded, taking her mother's hand, as they returned to their camp side. They came across a clearing which seemed completely barren and burned to the ground. The ground was completely covered in ashes, no living being seemed to be present except for the angel and her child. Emilia, took a step closer to the foreign scene, glancing at a burned-down tree. Curiosity taking over her, she reached out to touch, but before she could even get closer it crumbled. Slightly startling the girl, she took a step back, hearing a crunching sound. She looked down, only to notice she was standing on a crushed skull. The Nephilim let out a scream and fell on the ground. Laylah, hearing her daughter's voice, quickly ran over to the girl who was shivering in fright._

 _"Are you all right?"_

 _"I- *hiccup* I..."_

 _Nothing else could come out of the girl. Laylah glanced down to see what made the girl so upset. "Don't worry, it's just a skull."_

 _"Demons did this... Or humans? *hiccup*"_

 _Laylah kept silent as she comforted her daughter, confirming the girl's suspicions._

 _"In the town, they said that demons were attacking Ente Isla. You said that demons are just like humans, then why do they kill? *sob* Are they going to kill us too? I- it's scary. *sob* I want to go home... I want to see father... The outside world is scary!" Emilia kept crying. "Why did they burn everything?"_

 _"Sometimes, when someone has too much power they get drunk on it and crave for more. They don't have any regards to those who have become a victim. Humans, demons, even angels can become like that."_

 _"Mama, wanted to stop them... That's why they're chasing you..."_

 _Emilia's crying has become softer and turned into whimpers._

 _"Yes, but that's why we have to act and find what mama lost." Laylah finally said as she took Emilia by her hand. "Mama will try her best, but I need your help too. You want to help too, right?"_

 _The half-angel nodded slightly, tears still present on her face._

 _"You have to act more bravely if you want to help mama. You do want to help, right?" She asked again._

 _Emilia, quickly rubbed away her tears "Yes!"she said with determination present in her face. Her expression quickly changed as she realised something. "But you couldn't find them before. How can we find them?"_

 _The archangel smiled. "Mama has a secret weapon."_

 _"Secret weapon?"_

 _"Yes, and because it's very risky I haven't used it before." The woman said as she took off her ring. "They can detect each other." She smiled. "Whenever they are close they can lead us to where the other one is. It's a dangerous gamble, but it's the best one we have. Because I've hidden you away from the world, your existence has not been revealed to no one. Only your family knows, but your powers are growing steadily, it will only be a matter of time before they find out and that's why we have to act fast."_

 _Puffing her cheeks, the seven-year old looked at her mother. "If I can be strong, I can help out mother and Ente Isla!"_

 _"That's a good girl, now let's go eat first. We can't do anything on empty stomachs."_

 _And with that, the two retreated into the forest, leaving the burning field behind them. Emilia's discovery and Laylah's explanation, made something within the girl change. A determination that would keep her going for her goals._

* * *

Emilia rose from her slumber as she felt the sun shine on her face. With a grumble, she decided to open her eyes, leaving a heavy sigh. "A dream... Of that time..."

She tried to get up, only to notice that she couldn't. The girl turned her face to her left, only to find the drooling face of her mother next to her, holding her thigh between her arms. Today had to be the unlucky day where she had to wake up as a substitute pillow. It made her wonder how she was able to sleep soundly night after night, whenever her mother decided to only use one bed for the both of them.

Without any hesitation, Emilia tried to pry herself away from Laylah's strong grib, but for now it was only making her, hug her daughter even tighter, giving her the feeling that she was choking. Any other normal human would have probably broken their spine by now. After a few more tries on the Niphilim's part, she finally managed to fall off the bed with a thud.

"Ah, I'm going to get chocked one day." The girl mumbled.

"Uhwaa!"

The girl flinched. She suddenly noticed that she landed on something soft. Emilia glanced down, to stare at a bush of short silver hair with a strand of purple. The half angel sighed. "Ah... Oops?"

"Heavy!" The smaller figure grumbled.

Emilia quickly got off from the person. "Sorry Acies=Ara!"

"Onee-san, is getting heavy..." Acies=Ara mumbled.

"I'm just in my growing stage..." The half-angel mumbled. "Ah, by the way, is father already up?"

The two girls, finding themselves in a spacious Japanese-styled room got up. Emilia, stared half-dazed around, an effect of standing up too quickly. Finally, she stared at her 'sister' who looked about three years younger than the girl.

"Why were you lying on the ground?"

"Mama would make me her pillow too, if I stayed in bed with you and papa woke up early already for work."

Emilia nodded.

"Ah, by the way, breakfast is ready!"

Upon hearing the word breakfast, Laylah suddenly jumped out of bed. "Food! Where?!" She called out, stumbling on the sheets and falling on the ground similar to Emilia's earlier action.

"Ouch..." The woman mumbled.

After a few seconds the angel quickly got back on her feet and rushed downstairs. "I won't allow Acies=Ara to eat all of the rice again!"

"No, mama has to share!" The said-girl whined, as she quickly ran after the archangel, leaving the eldest daughter in the spacious bedroom.

The girl was rubbing her sore head as she glanced out of the window, staring at the scenery outside: clear blue sky, hardly any clouds, the sun was shining brightly, families, friends even pet and owner walking on the streets, the sounds of the morning traffic. It was completely unlike Ente Isla. The magenta-haired girl glanced back to the room and then to both her hands.

"It's been five years since that day... And only now did we... "

She closed her eyes, remembering the recent event which had occurred, but gave Emilia the feeling that it had been a long time ago.

* * *

The Western Continent's Central City and the location of the headquarters of the Church. It had been five years since Emilia and Laylah began their search and only until now did they found a lead. Twilight time had arrived, but despite the darkening sky, the streets were still bursting with life.

"It's so big!" The now twelve-year old Emilia exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"This is your first time in a city, isn't it?" Her mother commented.

The girl nodded happily. "The buildings are huge!"

"Well that's because there's a bigger concentration of humans living together of course."

"Ah..."

"But because of the crowds, it's easier to become separated. So don't leave my side, all right?"

The girl subconsciously held the hand of her mother tighter as she nodded, making Laylah smile.

"There's no need to be that nervous, you're big enough now and there's a reason why we've practiced so hard."

Emilia nodded, still nervous. "But there are a lot of people..."

"You have to learn to get used to it, they won't hurt you."

The two walked quietly through the masses. Unlike the villages they visited, the city seemed like a giant maze to the child. People everywhere and in quantity Emilia could never believe possible. Even the buildings seemed to look more fancy, a bright coloured stone, durable and there was not even one house made of wood. But the biggest difference Emilia notice were the people. There was no fear present, everyone seemed to laugh, joke and continue their daily life as if the terror of the demons wasn't happening.

"It's because the church is here, that the people feel secure." Laylah explained. "They are certain that heaven will save them."

"But... They are looking for us, they don't meddle with demons or humans."

"Yes." Laylah admitted, a sad expression spreading on her face. "That child... Strayed away from his path..."

"Mother?"

"Ah, it's nothing!"

The daughter who did not understood her mother's muttering, eyed her mother curiously. "So, it's here right? That, Yesod fragment?"

"Yes, The ring picked up the signal the moment we entered the city."

"Then, where is it?"

Laylah grimaced, trying to hide her expression under her bangs and hood.

Soon the two arrived at a massive, luxurious looking building. Emilia was mesmerised by its architecture. The walls were completely white, arcs beautifully crafted, along with golden statues, displaying men with white wings and the golden decoration made it look like it was the most important building in the city and the most impressive she had ever seen. In a way it reminded her of her mother. She glanced at the woman, who was more focused on the robed men, who were entering and exiting the building.

"Let's go." She whispered softly, while pulling her daughter away from the crowd and into an deserted alley. Emilia looked at her mother with curiosity, not sure what her mother was planning.

"The fragment is in the possession of the church. Honestly, I would have never imagined it would, be like this." Laylah sighed.

The girl kept staring at her mother's statement, completely at a lost.

"So we have to be very careful from now on."

The archangel glanced over at her daughter, who nodded absentmindedly. A smile crept on the woman's face and she took her daughter's hands and kneeled.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes, don't worry it will be over soon."

Emilia did as she was told. First, she noticed nothing, but she quickly felt a rush in her whole body and a warm light enveloping her. She had the impression that the wind had caught her lungs and as quickly as it came, it disappeared. The half-angel gasped as her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in an unfamiliar room. The room was dark and only a few candles were lit, giving it an eerie aura. The twelve-year old didn't like it one bit.

Laylah let go of the girl's hands as she looked around. "It should be somewhere here..."

While her mother tried to navigate across the dark corridors, Emilia glanced around, slightly curious, it was spacious and the ceiling was high up with colourful stained glass on the top, depicting images. Stories that she had never heard of. Images of what seemed to be humans, praying to the Angels right in front of them. Another one depicted a group of people together, one seemed to be holding something, but the girl could not figure out what it meant. The majority of the stained glass has similar, but there were some that caught her eye. Unlike the other imagines, these looked darker, depicting something what seemed inhuman, terrifying, while the humans on the stained glass cowered in fear. Houses on fire, people fleeing, the nephilim had to think back to the day when she saw the outcome of the demon armies for the first time. It was the first time she felt so scared, afterwards they had come across places even villages in the same or even worse shape. "Had... This happened before...?"

Snapping back to reality, the girl suddenly noticed that she was alone in the room. "Ma... Mama?" She called in a small cry, worry and fear quickly rising in her body. The girl scanned the room frantically, trying to look around in every corridor possible. A sound started her and made her trip, falling backwards against, what she thought to be a wall.

"Ouch!" She mumbled. Rubbing her the back of her head, staying silent as realisation hit her. Laylah and her had gotten separated. "Ah..." The girl was on the verge of tears, but a glow from behind caught her attention. It was a sword, resting on what appeared to be a pedestal where she has crashed into. The weapon was beautifully crafted, in what appeared to be an unusual looking metal, the golden handle, one side shaped like an wing, the delicate looking edge on the blade an glowing purple crystal, decorating the centre of the handle. She didn't know why but it felt familiar. Something steered within her, Emilia did not know what had possessed her to come near the weapon, nor why she touched it. It was as if she lost consciousness.

"Child, what are you doing here?! This is off limits!"

The girl snapped out of her trance, startled at hearing the voice, she turned around to stare at an old man, in a robe. He gave of the impression to be very influential. Too scared, the girl backed away, clutching the sword in her hands.

"The holy sword?! Return it this instant, or you'll be punished by the heavens!"

"Archbishop Olba, we have gotten a message about an energy outbreak somewhere in the city!"

The priest who barged into the room froze, when he saw Emilia.

"That's...!

* * *

The sun was already near setting, the red, orange colours, which adorned to sky turned into purple, the people were still going on about their lives. A green- blue haired girl, quietly passed by the streets until a sudden explosion broke the peace. People falling on the ground, dropping their belongings, even freezing on spot, all attention aimed towards one direction.

"What was that sound?"

"Did that came from the church?"

"Has the demon army arrived?!"

"If that were true, wouldn't we have noticed sooner?"

"What if it was a surprise attack?!"

Uncertainty started to spread through the citizens, not knowing what to do. Guards quickly arrived to calm everyone down, but since even they weren't sure themselves about what happened, they could only calm the citizens down by a little.

"An accident at the church's headquaaaaaarters?"

The green-blue haired girl looked suspiciously at the direction of the explosion as she got up, not taking her eyes of the roofs.

* * *

The roof collapsed after the enormous release of holy power, the beautifully crafted stained glass shattered, the walls had caved in and under all the debris and dust was Emilia, emitting a pure light, her hair, turned completely silver, the big green eyes were not green anymore, but a deep red and the sword she was holding, disappeared in front of her. She didn't know why, but the men terrified her, she didn't want to be there anymore, she was confused and lost. When she finally regained consciousness she looked startled at the chaos she caused.

"Ah... Wha... I... No..." The girl gripped her cape tightly, trying to find any signs of the two men. She clenched her teeth as the silence continued, tears began to fall. "No... Nonononononononononono!"

"This?! What happened?!"

The half-angel quickly snapped her eyes open, crawling back as she saw more men, hoping the dust would save her.

"Emilia!"

The child glanced at her mother, who was coming from behind her. She quickly ran into her arms, sobbing quietly. Laylah, taking advantage of the confusion and dust, spread her wings and escaped from the place. The two ended up in an alley a bit further away. Emilia was crying.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want to, but I was alone and the men were so scary! I don't know what happened I swear!"

"Shhh, it's all right." The archangel reassured the child. "I should have kept a better eye on you."

The woman kept hugging her child, trying to calm her down from her panic attack.

"You know, it would be smarter if you didn't hide."

Emilia stopped crying and looked confused at her mother who was staring right in front of her. A familiar silhouette appeared.

"I'm sooooooorry, I didn't want to bring any attention miss. I think it's betttter if you moved to another place."

The unchanged lazy-looking eyes, just like that day glanced at the mother and daughter. "I know a perfect place for youuuuuu."

* * *

"Archbishop Olba, are you all right?!" Within the debris of the collapsed room, the other clergymen and member had hurriedly ran towards the room after the sound. They were desperately trying to get their comrade out, luckily for them, Olba came out unscathed.

Everyone was at a loss, but those who were present.

"That power... There is no doubt about it..." Olba muttered as he glanced at the place where Emilia stood. "That source of holy power came from that child."

"Sir?" One of the priest asked.

"The holy sword was taken by a child of an angel!"

"What do you mean, archbishop?"

Olba got up slowly, removing some dust from his clothes. "There was a child in this room, when I came to inspect, she was holding the holy sword! That child is not ordinary, no normal human can emit that much holy power!"

"You mean that the heavens have send us a message?"

"A saviour capable of repelling the demons?"

"But why would a messenger send from heaven take the holy sword?"

"It could be a trick to deceive us!"

While the church continued discussing the strange phenomenon, a figure watched casually from the roof. His white toga wrapped around his tall, muscular body, sighing as he rested his head on his hands. "My, my Laylah, you've really made it complicated for yourself." The man stood up, his silver hair gentle flowing through the wind and red eyes scanning through the city. "But that half-breed of yours has at least given me a perfect clue about your whereabouts, after all those years, you've been secretly playing house." He rubbed his forehead, as if he was exhausted. "Hah, why do you keep making things complicated for me." He whined.

After a few seconds of silence the man jumped off the roof, spreading his wings into the sky.

* * *

"This should be good for noooooooow. The streets are probably filled with soldiers, scouting the place." The girl glanced back at the mother and child. "Ah, we haven't introduced ourselves the last time, riggggggghht? I'm Emerada Etuva, nice to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you very much. You probably have heard of me, I am Laylah and this is Emilia."

The child, still in her mother's arms glanced at the girl only for a second, before hiding her face in her mother's chest.

"Now, you two reallllllllly look like mother and child, the similarities in your facial features look more obvious!" Emerada commented, showing no concern about Laylah and Emilia's secret. "The people working for the church alwaaaaaaays tend to exaggerate the appearance of angels, but at least not everything was an exaggeration."

Laylah stood uncomfortable in the room where Emerada had brought them, staring slightly awkwardly at the short girl. "Ehh..."

"And just so you knooooooow, I don't side with the church, I'm a citizen from the Holy Saint Aire Empire, so don't worry about me sellllllling you out. I'm just here for a few days, well tomorrow is the last day of my stay, so I have no trouble with helping you."

The room was silent, Emerada continued with looking through her drawers, while Laylah stared at her daughter pensively.

"Ah, but escaping from the city would be probably very haaaard." The girl suddenly commented. "Since you trespassed on the church's grounds, were you looking for somethinnnnnng?"

"Yes, but things ended up a bit more complicated." The archangel answered.

"Ah, found it!"

Emerada took out a map and placed it on her desk.

"This is a map of the city, all the passages, buildings and alleyways are present, even the secret ones. For now, you can stay here for the night, I have enough food for the three of us."

Laylah immediately started to drool. "Thank you so much! We're most grateful for your kindness!"

"It's nothing big, it's juuuuust one night, what could happen?"

* * *

Emilia sighed as she reached the dinning room where Laylah and Acies=Ara were in the middle of devouring their part. The girl felt guilty at how she and her mother left the room in a mess. The face of disbelief that Emerada showed would haunt her for eternity, she was sure of that. After that the two had no choice but to fled the city far enough so her mother could open a gate.

She sat down, glancing at the food, her stomach immediately made a sound. It had been too long since the girl had a decent meal, aside from fish and apple, so every decent dish tasted heaven to her. She took the chopsticks, having mastered it after practice with her mom and took a bite of her rice. Soon every other thought left her mind as she also began to gobble everything.

"Seconds!" Acies=Ara yelled gleefully as she raised her bowl in the air.

Laylah did the same.

"You have to be careful, because your stomach will hurt like last time if you keep it up."

Nord came striding into the dinning room, dressed up in a typical business attire.

"But it's been such a long time! Emilia and I had to survive with whatever we could find and we couldn't afford frequent town visits."

"You can learn how to cook. After all those years I'm surprised you haven't tried it."

"I can prepare a dish perfectly fine!" The archangel huffed proudly.

Emilia stayed quiet, slightly winching at remembering the horrible prepared meal her mother prepared for the both of them. It didn't taste as horrible as it did in the beginning, but every sane person knew that it was still something that could probably kill you on the spot.

"Anyway, I was quite surprised when the two of you suddenly arrived in front of the house, did something happen?"

Laylah placed her chopsticks on the table, gulping down the food. Her playful behaviour completely gone. "The Church was in possession of a Yesod fragment. Emilia found it, but she was discovered by the church and she released her power in a panic attack."

Nord nodded as he continued to listen to his wife.

"Also, I think the fragment responded with the one Emilia has and merged with her."

Both parents glanced at the girl, who was busy prying her younger sister of her, who was trying to grab a bit from the nephilim's breakfast.

"You mean that she's not only merged with the evil repelling armour but also another one?"

"About that... the second fragment she merged with..." The woman sighed as she glanced at the child again. "It's the Holy Sword Better Half."

Nord stayed quiet for a while. "The other Better Half?"

Laylah nodded awkwardly.

"That is becoming complicated..."

The man glanced now at Acies=Ara, who was also obvious to the conversation of the adults.

"In my opinion it feels like it's a bit too soon for her, but now that her existence is discovered. I think it's time for her to teach her the way of the sword and more advanced magic."

"Has she a proper control of her powers?"

Laylah eyed her husband. "We're still working on it, but I think she has improved a lot. She is still reluctant in using them and I am not sure if the incident will make her even more reluctant."

"They would want to take advantage of her if they find her."

"I know."

"Papa! We want another one!"

Acies=Ara nearly pushed her bowl into Nord's face, a goofy smile plastered on hers.

"You, Laylah and Emilia already ate all the leftovers, you'll have to wait till lunch."

The girl puffed her cheeks in disappointment.

"How about you help your sister with her Japanese? She still has trouble with recognising every kanji."

"All right!" The nine-year old smiled as she grabbed Emilia's hand and dragged her back upstairs.

"We'll talk later, I have to go to work now." The man announced. "Please don't make a bigger mess than it already is Laylah and don't allow Emilia to do the same."

With a face of embarrassment Laylah wished her husband a good day. Glancing at the stairs where the two girls had disappeared to she let out a sigh.

After Emerada helped them out, Emilia lost consciousness due to overusing her powers. Laylah had to leave early the next day, to avoid too many encounters with the soldiers. After almost six hours of running and keeping a low profile Layah opened a gate to flee to where she send her husband: Japan a country in another world. She made sure the gate opened away from where her husband was staying to lead her pursuers to a fake destination, but she knew too well that it was impossible to stay long.

"Next time I should open a gate near Fuji..." She mumbled.

Deciding to check up on Emilia and Acies=Ara, the archangel peeked quietly in the room, where the two were busy.

"This one means sun, you write it like 日 and pronounce it like hi, 火 is pronounced the same, but it means fire."

"Really? Isn't it confusing?" Emilia asked.

"Not really, because if you take a good look you can see its shaped like fire"

"It doesn't seem that hard."

Acies=Ara grinned. "That's because these are the easier ones."

The twelve-year old grimaced upon hearing that. "I want to use the faster method..." She grumbled.

"But it's only writing and reading. You don't have much trouble speaking."

"Mama, says it's because of my angel-blood. They can understand every language without trouble. I don't know why, though..."

"Maybe, they have computer heads!" The nine-year old grinned.

"Oi, don't insult mama." Laylah whined. "Just because the other Angels have computer heads doesn't mean I'm like that too."

The two girls glanced at the archangel. "So they do have computer brains!"

The woman almost felt like crying, her own daughters lumped her together with the other Angels.

"Can onee-san also fly?"

Emilia glanced at her mother, a chill flew down her spine as her eyes met Laylah's.

"Well, for now I haven't found out anything. All our practice didn't pay off much."

"Practise?"

Emilia froze once everyone eyed her way.

"It's a bit to dangerous to do it here though." Laylah commented. "Anyway, there are a few things I'd like to discuss with you. Since your father will not return until later, I will only reveal a few things now."

The nephilim stayed quiet as she listened attentively to her mother.

"Now that the humans and Angels are aware of you. It's impossible to continue living like we used to. They are probably searching frantically for you too and it probably won't take long before they find the trace left of the gate I used. To be honest when you became old enough we planned for you to inherit the other Evolving Holy Sword Better Half along with Acies=Ara. At that time we had no idea that the church took custody of the other sword."

"What do you mean?"

"You merging with the other Better Half was unexpected. So, the plans have been changed. I've been teaching you how to control your holy magic, which helps a lot when controlling the Evolving Holy Sword, but that doesn't mean that you can control it."

"Are the swords... fragments of Yesod?" Emilia asked, still confused at what her mother was trying to tell her.

"Mhm." Laylah nodded as she walked to the bed and sat on it, gesturing the two girls to join her.

"The fruits of the Tree of Life, Yesod is one of them. It's origin dates back years before even your father was alive. There are seven fruits in total; Keter, Binah, Hokhmah, Gevurah, Hesed, Tif'eret, Hod, Netzah, Yesod and Malkhut. Due to events I had to take the fruit of Yesod, split it in pieces and keep it away from the heavens. Those fragments took different shapes, the ring I'm carrying, the Holy Sword, the fragment I fused you with and Acies=Ara."

Emilia blinked and glanced at the personification of one of the fragments who sat quietly as if it was the most normal thing.

"The stones... Are Yesod?" The girl finally asked, trying to be sure she understood.

"Yes, I'm sorry for leaving such an important object in your care. I'm such a selfish person." The archangel smiled sadly as she patted the half-angel's head.

Emilia shook her head. "It's my lucky charm, right?"

"Yes it is."

The girl smiled, until she realised something and turned her gaze at the bed, pondering heavily. "... But... I've never seen it..."

Acies=Ara snorted upon hearing that, earning a glare from her 'elder sister'.

"It's because it merged with you when you were still a baby."

"Merged? Did I eat it?"

Laylah chuckled. "You could say that." She embraced the two girls, who seemed to be ready to get into a fight. "Anyway, let's get you two dressed. On to the showers, we can't have you two still in your sleeping wear when papa returns."

"It's called a pyjama." The personified Yesod fragment reminded her.

* * *

As I said before, this chapter took quite a turn, compared to what I originally planned. A time skip was supposed to happen a bit later on. But, because of the plans I had and the fact that there wouldn't happen much, I decided that the time skip was necessary to let the plot advance and to prevent any inconvenience. I hate repetition especially when it doesn't contribute to the story, so no filler chapters, my readers deserve quality and not only quantity.

If anyone still has questions or anything feel free to ask or point anything out, feel free to do so.

Thank you for reading and until the next chapter!


	5. The Hero Is Separated From Her Family

I'm sooooo sorry for the long wait! But I was so tired these last couple of weeks. I just had no energy to do anything else but sleep for the majority of the day, even after waking up from an afternoon nap I felt too tired and at night I'd just drop unconscious on my bed like I've never slept before. Can you imagine how horrible that is? Even now my body craves for some sleep. I also had to a certain degree writers block. Don't worry I got over it as you can see. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

Thank you everyone who followed, fav etc etc. I sometimes wonder how come this story still has views since my lack of updating isn't very encouraging, but well. I'm still happy I really am. As a writer we pour our souls in our stories, so it makes us happy that there are peope interested, no matter how small the group is. I swear I have so many great ideas for this story and as I've said before, this story will probably take awhile before it reaches its end. I finally sort of know where I want this to go. Ah and before I forget this fix has a few spoilers of the novel. Not, completely because it's AU, but in character wise and some facts it does.

Side note: Since the chapter name is too long for FF standard I had to cut it short, but you can see the full chapter name down here in the story.

Well then, enjoy! I'm going to start reading vol 2 of the novel, which arrived this morning! Happiness overload! And probably go to bed after, so good night!

* * *

Chapter 4: The Hero Is Separated From Her Family Once More

"I leave the house for only a few hours and it looks even worse than when I left it. Honestly, what am I going to do with you."

Laylah sat straight up on the floor, in the Japanese seiza position, eyes closed and an apologetic expression on her face, while Nord stood in front of her, staring at her disapprovingly. Emilia and Acies=Ara sat behind them on the couch feeling equally guilty, while their mother was getting scolded.

"I can't even comprehend how you are able to turn the bathroom in such a mess. It was cleaned yesterday. I understand that the technology of this world holds yours and Emilia's curiosity, since it doesn't exist in Ente Isla, but that's no excuse to go and break everything you see."

"I'm sorry..." The archangel whimpered.

Nord let out a sigh. "What happened, happened, we can't do anything about it. But please don't give the girls a bad example."

Her tears were visible at the corners of her eyes as she nodded desperately.

It was already past noon, the sky had darkened and the streets had become quiet, it was around the time most Japanese would be having dinner with their family, but in Nord's case, who just returned from work, with a wife who possessed no culinary skill and two daughters who were still young and did not had an opportunity to learn how to cook, he had no choice but to bring take out with him. As unhealthy as it was for children, but because it was one of the rare things Emilia got to taste for the first time and as a child, she was more than excited. By how everything tasted better than Laylah's apple, fish dish. Which for some reason grew on her by a little.

"What is this?" Emilia asked curiously. As she curiously opened the bag, containing the mysteriously, enticing-smelling food.

"It's from MgRonalds. I came across the store on my way home and I thought; I bet Emilia would love to try it." He grinned as he saw the bubbly face of his eldest daughter.

"MgRonalds is yummy! But I want to eat curry again next time!" Acies=Ara exclaimed proudly.

"Alright, next time if I have time off, how about we all go out as a family."

Though, the Nephilim had no idea what her father meant by that exactly, but somehow, seeing Acies=Ara's face bright and cheery made her also happy at the suggestion.

"Together! Our first family outing!" The Yesod Fragment cheered.

Emilia only nodded as she stuffed her mouth full with fries. She glanced at the cup where her drink was and stared curiously at the dark substance. She took off the lid sniffing the dark liquid, which resulted in letting out a sneeze, due to the bubbles present in the drink. "What's wrong with the water?" She asked.

"That's cola." Acies=Ara explained. "It's a very sweet drink with bubbles, so it might tingle a bit when you drink it.."

The half-angel glanced at her cup again and carefully took a sip, frowning slightly as she gulped the foreign drink down. "It tastes... Strange."

"If you don't want it, you can give it to me!" Acies=Ara commented as she took a sip from the girl's drink with a smirk on her face.

"That's mine! You have your own drink!" The twelve-year old quickly said.

The two girls continued to gulp down their dinner while also taking from each other's plate.

Laylah smiled upon seeing the happy faces of the girls, but it quickly faltered as she turned to Nord. Her playful character completely disappearing. "Nord..."

The man looked at his wife and nodded. "Emilia, we need to talk."

The girl, who was eating fast food for the first time, was completely engrossed in the delicious taste, as if it had been ages since she ate something decent, which in a way was true. She glanced up at her father, her big, round eyes gazing curiously at him with innocence.

Nord felt like his heart began to ache, upon seeing the innocence the girl was showing, but he knew there was no other choice. It was too late anyway. The man sat next to his daughter, still meeting her eyes. "Emilia, you know the reason why your mother kept you hidden, do you?"

Emilia glanced at her mother and back to her father. "To hide from the Angels."

Nord glanced at his wife. She met his gaze with a similar expression as his. "Emilia." She called out as she got up and sat next to the girl. "I've tried my best to keep you safe and give you a life you could enjoy as a child. It may not be the most ideal childhood, but at least you weren't in any real danger until a few days ago. I know it's impossible to give you the life you deserve and I hope that you won't hate me for everything you'll have to go through. Due to my carelessness, you were caught in the conflict I hoped to stall for a while, but your powers have been growing faster than suspected. It won't be long until I won't be able to suppress them anymore."

"What do you mean?" Emilia's voice sounded alarmed, despite her young age, she had an inkling of what was going to happen.

This time it was Nord who answered the girl. "I have an acquaintance, back at Ente Isla. He lives in a secluded area away from civilisation, but safe. You're going to stay with him. He can help you to learn self defense."

"It's also a good place to learn how to control your powers and to wield The Evolving Holy Sword Better Half." Layla's continued, hoping it would ease her daughter. "Mama won't be far from you, but I can't have them finding you and trying to use you for their schemes."

"No, I don't want to go! I want to stay together! It's scary! I don't want to hurt anyone!" The girl started to sob slightly.

"Don't worry, my friend is a very gentle person." Nord reassured her. "You won't be in any danger."

"But what if the demons come?"

"It will be fine." Laylah answered. "Mama will rush to your side if you are in danger."

As tears began to form, the child closed her eyes, letting them fall, while her mother patted her head gently. "I want to stay with father longer."

Acies=Ara stared at the girl pensively while the half-angel continued to cry. The girl snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder, glancing up she stared at Nord.

"It's better if you stay here. It would be bothersome if they find you too."

"But..." The girl wanted to protest.

"Emilia is strong, she is still a child, of course, but I'm sure she will grow up into a strong woman. Maybe when you're older you can help her, but for now in order to attract as little attention as possible, it's best if you stay here."

The child glanced back at her 'sister' worryingly.

"But the day will surely come when we all can enjoy curry together." He smiled.

Nothing more was said that night. Emilia went to bed without a word, followed by Acies=Ara who decided to sleep next to her, claiming that she was afraid in the dark. As fear and uncertainty were heavily present in her mind, somewhere she knew that it was only temporarily, so she clutched on the bit of hope as she fell asleep, knowing that one day she could stop worrying.

* * *

Midnight had already passed, in the silence of the night a portal opened in the mountain range of the Western continent of Ente Isla, Laylah stepped carefully outside. "Alright." She muttered softly as she glanced around her surroundings, making sure nothing was following her. The archangel let out a sigh as she continued her journey, on her back she was carrying a sleeping Emilia.

"I already miss the comfortable beds." The woman whined as she tried to push away a few branches from her face. "It's not like I like this lifestyle. Only able to stay at one place for a few days and then immediately moving to the next. I also want to eat Ice Cream, watch television, take a bath in a decent tub, eat delicious food, sleep in a real bed for a longer period than three days and have some fun. Haah, being an Archangel is so tiresome. I don't want to do all this, I want a break once in a while, but of course, Ente Isla does not know breaks or vacation, war doesn't know vacation. Stupid church, stupid Angels and those stubborn demons, what the hell are they thinking?!"

The woman stared ahead of her, glancing at the night sky. Silence took over for a short while. "I want to eat curry..." She mumbled as she slumber through the mountains, carrying her daughter.

After a while they came across a more wooded area, the trees became higher and stood closer to each other, leaves covered the view of the stars, which took away some of the moonlight, which illuminated Laylah's path and it felt slightly colder. The sounds of the wind got replaced by the sound of crickets, birds and other animal's living in the area. No other form of life seemed to be present.

The woman frowned at the change. "I can slightly understand the need for privacy, but to live in such a secluded area..."

After a few more minutes of walking she finally arrived at a small clearing. There was a small cottage in the middle of it, stacks of wood lay not further away from the small building and at the front seemed to be a small campfire, the fire seemed to have been extinguished quite some time ago and next to the campsite was a muscular man snoozing against a large tree trunk. The man looked in his early thirties, he has short white hair and a muscular body.

Laylah stared at the man, puzzled. She wondered if he had been sleeping there for a long time and if he did, why did he do it so peacefully with his guard down in the middle of the forest. Was he just so sure about himself, or was he just an idiot with a lot of luck. "Seriously, where does he meet such people?" The archangel wondered to herself, while thinking of her husband.

While being too busy with her thoughts a cold breeze washed over them, making the man sneeze, waking him up on the spot. "Ugh, ah wha, what time is it?"

The man glanced up lazily at Laylah who was staring expectantly at him, still with a curious expression. The seconds ticked by until the man finally realised he was not alone?

"Can... I help you?" He asked awkwardly.

"You must be the acquaintance of my husband. It's a pleasure to meet you." Laylah put down her pack and looked through it until she took out an envelope and gave it to the white haired man.

The man glanced at the envelope until recognition washed over him. "Ah, you're Nord's wife?!" He quickly stood up and bowed politely. "It's an honour to be in your presence lady Laylah!"

"No need for formalities, please. It feels very awkward, there is not much difference between Angels and humans anyway."

"If that's what you prefer. Your husband has probably told a few hints about me. I'm Alberto."

"Yes, you used to be part of this group of martial artist, right? Before you became a woodcutter."

"Yeah, I was." Alberto replied. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, would you like to come in?"

Laylah looked at the shed and then glanced at Alberto in disappointment.

"Eh, is something the matter?"

"What's with that rundown looking shack of yours? I would have ever imagined that your house would be so tiny, how is a grown man able to live in that thing? It's too plain looking!

Alberto had no way of responding to the spontaneous, but true answer. Feeling his pride shattering into pieces by the archangel's sudden comment he let out a sigh. "Ones garbage is the other's treasure, you know." He mumbled sadly to himself.

He slumped over to his house and opened the door, letting the mother and her sleeping child enter first. The man lit some candles, making Laylah blink at the state the inside of the cottage found itself in. She had to admit it was in a better state than she had expected. A little messy, but further clean. At least much better than the state of all the rooms Laylah left, not that she would comment on it.

"You can place the child in a more comfortable place if you want. I don't think it's very comfortable for someone to sleep on their mother's back." The man commented.

The woman nodded as she placed her daughter on the bed, taking off the cape she was wearing and using it as a blanket.

"Well then," Alberto continued as he and Laylah took a seat. "I know that you're not here to visit and this letter probably explains Nord's request." He said as he opened the letter and scanned through its content. "Geez, I'm always stuck with his unreasonable demands."

"Don't worry, I'll promise we won't be much of a bother. I'll have to stop by somewhere first anyway, so you can get acquaintances with Emilia."

"I see, wait, what?!"

Laylah smiled as she got up. "Well then, I'll leave her in your care for now."

Too speechless to respond, the martial artist just gaped at the woman as she just left leisurely, leaving her daughter with him.

"Ah, wait a minute! What mother leaves her daughter with a complete stranger!?"

Alberto tried to catch up with the archangel. But when he opened the door of his cottage, the woman had disappeared. He tried to search for her frantically around the area, but there was no sight of the woman. Defeated, he let out a sigh and turned around, glancing at the small, girl who had just stirred in her sleep.

"Great, what am I going to do now?!"

* * *

Alright, that was chapter 4! I hope I can get the next one up sooner, but I still have an nice idea for a one-shot which I have not written yet, but my mind is begging me to write it.

A lot of information was revealed and a lot wasn't anyway, all I can say is that it will all be clear in future chapters. Nothing is going to fast, because the overal plot is muuuuch bigger than this.

Thanks for reading and if you can please leave some feedback if you think I can improve somewhere.


	6. The Hero Obtains Tutors for Future De

Damn almost forgot my commentary. Ugh, I'm sooooo tired, but I was able to finish this finally! My apologies for the wait, I was engrossed with reading Volume 2 of the novel, I began to work on some to her project, like that one-shot I was talking about the last chapter and I'm working on a HataMaou Pokémon crossover. I'm having some difficulties with that one sadly. But I hope I can post it soon!

I want to thank everyone, reviewers, followers, readers etc. I really hope you didn't wait too long. Now reply to anonymous reviews:

Guest: You're welcome. It's those small clumsy moments that I want to make into the charm of this story. While there are dark moments, the happy ones are also present. It happens also in real life.

Guest: Thanks, well Emilia will have her doubtful moments too. Her journey hasn't even started yet. She has to see a lot of the world and prepare until she grows into the woman she'll become later.

kay I'm not going to keep you waiting.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Hero Obtains Tutors for Future Development

Emilia rose slowly from her slumber, as the sounds of chirping birds reached her ears. She wanted to turn around and ignore the noise, when suddenly she realised that She shouldn't hear the chirping so clearly within the house, on top of that, the unfamiliar, odd smell of slightly dried wood jolted her awake immediately. She sat right up, staring at the unfamiliar room, the sun rays, not yet strong enough to light the room, which made the girl assume that it was still early.

"Mama?" The girl's alarmed tone was heard clearly in the room as she frantically searched for her mother. "Mama?!" She tried again, her voice became more alarmed when she received no answer. "Mama, where are you?!" Her eyes began to sting with tears that started to form when again she heard no answer.

Right at that moment the door opened slowly and the small girl was eye to eye with an unfamiliar, tall, muscular man.

"Ah, you're... Awake..." His voice sounded nervous and unsure.

Emilia's expression quickly changed from startled to scared as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Ah, wait, don't? Please, don't cry!"

"Maaaamaaaaaa!"

The wails of one girl were enough to send the man into panicking. "Please, don't cry! Look your mother is fine, she said she had to do a few things and that she'd be back before you know it! I'm not a bad person I swear! Your father, Nord asked me to help!"

Upon hearing the name of her father, the half-angel calmed down a little. She glanced at the unknown man, looking for confirmation with her tear-filled eyes. "You know my father?"

"I'm his friend, Alberto Ende." The man, Alberto introduced himself as he nervously held out his hand for the twelve-year old.

Emilia, still skeptical about the man's sudden appearance just stared at his hand. "Why is father not here and why would mama leave me here? Mama never leaves me alone." Her tears began to resurface.

"Uh oh." the man muttered in panic as he realised that she was just about to break down. "Lady Laylah said it was very important and that it would be safer for you to stay here until she returns. So, from today onward... You're going to be my apprentice!"

"Appren..." Emilia trailed off as she tried to repeat the unfamiliar word.

"You're my student and I'm your teacher!"

"Teacher? For kanji?"

Alberto blinked. "Uh... Kanji? No, I'm going to teach you some martial arts. So, get up, I think your mother left some food in the luggage that we could prepare."

He strode over to the baggage, Laylah had left behind and began to look through it. Only taking out unfamiliar food packages, decorated with strange symbols, he could not recognise. "Uhh." He stared clumsily at the food. "Is this even edible?"

Watching, as he man was clumsily looking through the bags, left by the archangel, the child got up and walked over to the man, picking up a few packagings and immediately recognising the writing. "Curry!" She shouted out, startling the man, who had not noticed the girl's approach. "Curry rice, curry ramen, curry bread, curry udon!" The girl kept reading out the words on the foreign package, while going through the contents of her mother's bags. All curry themed.

Alberto, flabbergasted at the revelation finally snapped back into reality. "You... Can read that?"

Emilia nodded. "It's Japanese! Acies=Ara taught me the basics and everything else came naturally!"

The man blinked. "That's right, Nord was sent away to a far away land for safety measures, lucky bastard. He doesn't need to worry about the demon invasion." He muttered the last part softly to prevent the girl from hearing. Taking another peek at the note he received the other night first, he cleared his throat. "So, this curry, how do you prepare it."

"You put it in the microwave and you heat it up!" She answered honestly.

Silence befell in the room before Alberto opened his mouth again. "What is a microwave?"

* * *

It was dawn when Laylah finally arrived at the city borders. She let out a huge sigh as she looked at the tall buildings hovering over the people and houses in the city. "I made it and with less trouble that I imagined." She took a large jump and landed neatly on one of the rooftops. She huffed and lifted her head proudly as she stared at the largest building of the city. Proud of her accomplishment. "Saint Aire Empire's Capitol. Who would have guessed that, that person had such a position. Well, don't always judge a book by its cover, is what they say."

Taking another step, she jumped again, landing neatly in one of the alleyways. She took out a note and scanned it carefully. It contained some notes and a small map of the city. The map showed a large building in the middle, some passages, river ways and other buildings encircling the large one, creating layers which expanded to the outskirts. "This city has an interesting structure, I wouldn't mind living here, as long as I can make use of the technology from Japan." Pointing her finger to where she believed was her current location, she slowly moved it to a building encircled in red. "It should be there!"

She stored the map away and quickly left the alley, continuing her walk toward her destination.

The city was peaceful and quiet, Laylah observed her surroundings carefully, unlike all the villages she and Emilia visited, the city felt more organised and secure, but she knew that was just a feeling, given off by the size of the city and its walls. A few humans were outside, starting their day early, while the others were still resting inside their houses. How long would it take until even the largest empire of the Western Continent would fall, only time would know.

"At least I'm not late." She mumbled softly to herself as she disappeared into the more luxurious part of the city.

* * *

"Requesting for backup, requesting for backup, requesting for backup... Mysteriously killllllllled... If this keeps on it will not be the demons, but the human race that will wipe itself off the eaaaaaaaarth." A sigh was the only noise filling the room. "All these stupid disputes because of power and authority, do they seriously prefer their position over the survival and safety of humankind?"

The person, who was looking through the stack of papers in front was a girl, who could easily pass for a child, her short blue-green hair and matching eyes made her look only more youthful, but despite that she had a high position in the Saint Aire Empire, she was one of the high ranking court alchemists and a talented magician: Emerada Etuva.

Emerada placed the documents on the table and stretched, getting out of her seat and walked straight to the window. "Northern Continent has fallen, Eastern Continent has also fallen, the Southern Continent is loosing the battle... And getting slaughtered. I don't think we will survive for long."

"I don't think so either."

The court magician blinked, turned her head slightly to the right and stared at the smiling bubbly face of Laylah.

"It's good to see you again!" The archangel commented.

"... Miss Laylah..."

The woman nodded as she stood up and jumped into the room, cleaning the dust off her clothes. Emerada stared puzzled at the sudden appearance of the woman.

"I'm sorry for barging in so suddenly, but I need your help." The archangel said immediately, her playfulness was completely gone.

"Well, I did invite you to come over and I surprised the two of you too with our previous meettttttttting. But no one would have believed me anyway, even here I get mistaken for a child or a trainee easillllllllly."

Emerada's unexpected assistance caught the archangel and her daughter by surprise. Especially after the court alchemist revealed her position in the Saint Aire's royal court to the females who thought the girl was just a regular villager of Emilia's age.

"Don't worry about it, you actually saved us from a lot of trouble. Anyway, I would like for you to come with me for a bit."

"Has it anything to do with, why your daughter is not with yoooooooooou?" The girl asked, obviously noticing the absence of the half-breed.

"A little." The woman admitted.

"Well, I still have work to doooooooo and I don't think that I can be missed at the palace right noooooooow."

"Don't worry about!" Laylah answered. She quickly pulled out a letter. "If they read this, I'm sure they'll understand!"

She walked over to Emerada's work desk and placed the letter, leaving a clear white feather on top.

"Uhm, I'm not sure if..."

Without listening to the younger girl, Laylah headed towards the window and lifted the court magician over her shoulders. "Besides, I don't think your city will survive for much longer."

"Huh? Ahh!"

Another leap, and the archangel spread her wings, flying towards the same direction where she came from.

"Iyaah!"

Emerada's squeak was cut short by the sudden wind she felt filling her lungs.

Right at that moment the door opened.

"I have been requested to deliver these to you, lady..."

A breeze blew into the empty room, giving a feeling of abandonment. The low ranked court employee looked frozen in the room.

"Lady Emerada?"

He took a few steps, until something white caught his eyes. Baffled, he took the feather in one hand and the envelope in the other; written in delicate, golden handwriting was written; To the Magicians of the Royal Court and the King.

The poor boy, still frozen in spot stared at the letter, until he finally couldn't take it anymore and...

"Ugh!"

Collapsed.

* * *

While chaos continued to reign over the human society, Emilia was dealing with other problems. The girl had been staring at the boiling pot for a while, a book resting next to her on the ground, while examining the pot's contents: curry ramen, and the smell it emitted. For a child who had only known the rotten smell of a bad prepared meal and fast food, everything else smelled very pleasant.

"Are you sure about this?"

Alberto, was sitting a bit further away, knees wrapped in his arms and chin on top, he gave the girl an awkward stare.

The half-angel turned towards the grown man, expression alert with annoyance. "You gave me poison for breakfast!"

"It was just normal stew, it wasn't that bad..." Alberto trailed off as he remembered their awkward introduction. He couldn't understand anything of the food Laylah had brought, nor did he know how to prepare it, so he decided to make some himself as a mean to break the ice with the girl. Living alone in the woods taught him to eat anything no matter how horrible it tasted and with his own cooking skills being mediocre and probably as bad as Laylah's, ended up with the girl almost losing her life. Instead Emilia was forced to take out a cooking book, which Acies=Ara secretly placed in Laylah's bag, and teach herself, how to make a decent meal.

"I think it should be done by now." The girl finally announced as she took another look. She took out two bowls and placed the ramen in each.

Alberto got closer, staring curiously as the foreign dish. "It doesn't smell bad." He admitted as he took a bowl in his hand, careful to not burn himself.

"You eat it with chopsticks."

Alberto glanced confused at the twelve-year old, her face was strict and expressionless as she offered him a pair of chopsticks. Awkwardly, he took them as he muttered a thank you. He stared at the Japanese eating-utensils and glanced back at Emilia, who separated her chopsticks and began to eat. After an awkward silence, Alberto mimicked her movement, clumsily.

"Ah, hot!" The martial artist hissed after taking his first bite. He quickly began to blow on the noodles, to cool them down and took another bite. "Hmmm, this is quite good, especially for your first try. You have talent lady."

A slight blush creeped on the girl's face upon hearing the compliment. "Ah, thank you."

Another silence fell upon them, until Alberto tried to break the ice again. "So, the place Nord is currently staying is called Japan?"

Emilia nodded as she gulped down her food, contented with its outcome. "It's in a place called earth. It's different from Ente Isla. They don't have magic, or demons, but they've got a lot of interesting things. Like this thing they call technology and a big box that's shows images, they call it television! And a weird tube where water comes out! They have it in the kitchen and the washroom, but they call it a bathroom there! Also there are a lot of lights in the cities!"

Her face lit up as the began to explain the foreign world she had seen. While it was only for a short period, it left a great impact on the child.

"And I also learnt some Japanese!" The girl continued excited. "Acies=Ara has only taught me the basics and such, but somehow I could understand it very quickly when I got a grasp of it!" She showed Alberto the cooking book, which was of course completely in Japanese. "Here is the name of the dish, that is the list of ingredients and underneath is explained how to prepare it. You have to start with the curry and later you add potatoes!"

Alberto had no idea what the girl was talking about, but seeing how quickly she opened up made him smile. "You've learnt all that in such a short time? You must be very talented."

The girl shook her head. "Mama says it's because I'm half-angel! It makes it easier for me to pick up other languages, even if they're from other races!"

"That's handy. Shall we see what other talents you have after we're done eating?"

While the girl was not sure what the martial artist meant, she still nodded.

"Alright then, let's finish this up!"

* * *

"First' it's important to built stamina and endurance, if you want to be strong you need to be in a good condition!"

Emilia looked at Alberto as she showed off his muscles.

"I got these by training very hard and of course I keep training to stay in this good shape."

The girl didn't looked thrilled about the idea of ending up like him, which made the man laugh.

"Don't worry, it won't be the exact same result, but at least you'll be able to defend yourself properly. Now, as I said before a good condition is the key to success, no matter what battlefield you're in. Even magicians need a good condition to use their magic. We do this with excessive, it's also a great way to keep your body healthy, of course there are magicians who who magic to increase their strength, but that's practically useless when you're in life threatening situations where they'll have to focus on attacking and defending."

"So, I have to get a better condition?" The half-angel asked curiously.

"Yeah, well I am certain you're quite healthy because of all the traveling, but to run is still different than only walking, also warm ups are important for your muscles, this is necessary for martial arts or any type of combat."

Emilia listened curiously at the man and nodded.

"Just remember, magic and martial arts are not the same, while the training is, in certain way similar, but unlike magic, strength, endurance and stamina are the most important for us. If you lack one of them, you won't last long."

Alberto took a piece of wood, placed it vertically on the ground and in one punch broke it in half. The girl gaped in in amazement.

"That was awesome!"

"Thank you, you'll be able to do much more than this when we're done. Now let's start with the warming ups." He looked around the woods, as if trying to check something, before he turned towards the girl again. "Let's start with running."

* * *

By the time Laylah arrived at the mountains it was already noon. She landed gently on the ground and set Emerada on her feet.

"There was no need to carry me, you knooooow. I can fly on my owwwwwn." The alchemist commented.

"Ah, I forgot that humans had a spell for that." The archangel answered carefree.

"I'm starting to wonder about what you Angels really are likkkkkke. You don't seem to be as serious and holy as everyone keeps saying and especially the churrrrrrch."

"Well, we're not that special. It's just humans believed that were some sacred beings. Not that heaven tries to change that's view. The majority of the angels are completely different from what you expect."

"I wouldn't be surprised if everyone back there is completely panickiiing. What you did was reaaaally reckless. The Saint Aire Empire might even end up in a conflict with the church because of that letttttttttter. So, why did you want to bring me to this place? Is this your new hiding spoooooooot? It's not something you'd expect from an angggggel."

The archangel, who felt all her pride and self-esteem crumble at the continuing remarks and insults, turned around to look at their path. "It should be a little further ahead."

"Huh?"

The magician followed the archangel's gaze and frowned. "Your life seems to revolve around traveling and traveling, doesn't iiiiiiit? Did you leave your daughter somewhere in the woodddddds?"

"Uhm, well she's staying with an acquaintance of my husband. He used to be part of a group of famous martial artist in the Northern Continent."

A flicker of recognition appeared in Emerada's eyes as she listened to the woman.

"And he's going to teach Emilia martial arts."

"I seeeee, and you want me to teach her magic speeeeels?"

Laylah nodded. "When it comes to magic, Emilia is very insecure. Her magic has almost run amok a few times already and that's not only dangerous for her surroundings, but also herself."

"Well, a sudden release of such a huge amount of holy magic will not go unnoticed. Alright I get it. Then, let me guess, I'll have to prepare to be living in the woods for a while?"

"..."

Laylah's silence was enough to confirm Emerada's suspicious.

"I thought so. Well, I guess it's not so bad a change of environment is not bad and I appreciate the privacy, I probably will have to resort to looking for food. You're pretty irresponsible for an angel. Doing all these reckless things. How good did you think through this? Is it even healthy for your daughter? A child has to grow in a stable and healthy environment."

"Don't worry, Emilia and I have been living this kinda of lifestyle since she was small. She's used to this!"

"... She is? But what about her education?"

"I thought her personality, of course."

"What about her social development? Has she made any friends? Does she talk to people? The first time I met her she was very shy and hardly talked at all."

"... Well... She talks to her father... Occasionally and to her adopted sister... "

"... I'm sorry to say this, but your family structure doesn't sounds healthy at all for a child. You live separate from her father for safety reasons. He lives somewhere far and adopted a child? Who will grow up without a mother figure while the other one grows up in he wild away from human contact and without a father figure and fears her own powers. Aren't you worried at all for her future? We live in a period where cities are being invaded by demons. While no place seems save at all have you ever thought about what happens if she encounters the demon army?"

"..."

"A girl her age with hardly any knowledge about the world, who only relies on her mother and probably fears any kind of contact with strangers inability to control her magic. If she turns mentally unstable it will destroy her from inside."

"..."

"Also you said you left her with an acquaintance of your husband. How well does she know that acquaintance? Is it possible that she'll become distraught or start to cry? What if she accidentally blows the whole place up because she couldn't control her emotions?"

"Emilia is not like that!" Laylah stated firmly, looking the magician straight in the eyes. "She may have her insecurities and fears but she is trying hard to control herself. She is a fast learner, if she has the time and opportunity she could overcome her problems. Children tend to be insecure, especially when they grow up in such a dangerous environment. I know that this isn't the ideal way to raise a child, but it's the only option. I can't allow for her to fall into the hands of those who want to use her for their own gains. I tried my best to protect her, to hide her from the Angels and the church. I failed in that because I did not kept a proper eye on her development. She's not human so they would take notice sooner or later, if only I had more time. But that's not possible. So I have to do what I can to keep her safe and happy. There aren't many people I can turn to for help, which is why I'm begging you, please help that child. I know you can give her the companionship she needs to keep her belief alive. Not everyone is evil, but it's hard to judge someone with just the appearance... But I know you can teach her what I can't."

There was a short silence until...

"Fu!"

The archangel glanced back at the short human who let out a chuckle. Emerada smiled upon seeing the woman's confused stare.

"You're a good mother. Sure you have flaws, a lot of flaws and you're not the most responsible person."

Laylah could almost feel the sharp yaps thrown at her as she listened.

"But you do what you think is best for your daughter and that's what's important."

It was around twilight, when the two had finally arrived at the cottage and what they encountered had shocked them both.

"Ah lady Laylah! You're back! I hope you won't mind but I tried to make use of the food you brought along. It was quite the challenge for me to figure out how to make it, but I think I finally got it!"

Alberto had a frying pan in his hand, slight burning marks on his finger were visible enough for the two to notice and a goofy smile on his face. But what caught their attention was the mysterious black sludge in the pan and from behind the man they saw Emilia a little further away, completely bend over in some bushes, the noises made it clear that she was vomiting.

"Please, don't tell me I have to survive with that?" Emerada begged as she glanced at the horrid sight of the unidentified dish. The smell alone was foul enough to make the court magician sick.

Laylah on the other hand paid no attention. She shoved Alberto to the side and hurried towards her daughter.

"Emilia?! What happened?! Are you alright?! Don't tell me you fell ill? Ahh this is the first time this happened, what am I supposed to do?!"

"Not... curry... Ugh..." The half Angel mumbled incoherently.

Alberto stared puzzled at the scene, completely obvious for the root of the problem.

"Did... Something happen?"

Emerada groaned as she slowly stepped away from the source of the smell. Her nose was pinched shut before she opened her mouth. "I don't think I will be able to survive this..."

* * *

Thanks for reading, I really hope you all enjoyed it. If you have a question, want to give feedback or your thoughts, feel free to leave a review to motivate the author. :) until next time!


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